Wednesday, 12 December, 2018

In Memoriam Markus-Christian Amann

Professor Markus-Christian Amann. Picture: TUM

Prof. Markus-Christian Amann passed away unexpectedly on 23 Novemeber 2018 at the age of 67 years. Until April 2018 he was Full Professor for Semiconductor Technology at TUM and Director of the Walter Schottky Institut. Markus-Christian Amann was member of NIM since its foundation in 2007. Together with his team he made important contributions for the success and worldwide recognition of the Nanosystems Inititaive Munich. We will always keep him in honorable memory.

After completing his studies at the Faculty for Electronic and Computer Engineering of TUM, Markus-Christian Amann joined the research laboratories of Siemens AG in Munich in 1981 where he remained until 1994, rising to lead the department for Semiconductor Research & Optoelectronics. Subsequently, he accepted a call to a Chair for Technical Electronics at the University of Kassel where he taught and researched until 1997. In 1997 he received a call to the TUM, where he held the chair for Semiconductor Technology at the Walter Schottky Institut until his retirement in April 2018.

Markus-Christian Amann was a very well-known and highly-respected figure in the international scientific community. He performed groundbreaking work in the field of III-V semiconductor optoelectronic devices, including vertical cavity surface emitting lasers - key components for high bandwidth optical data communication systems and optical metrology and sensing systems. His work is documented by more than 500 scientific publications, patents and conference proceedings that also formed the intellectual basis for the successful launch of several start-up companies.

Markus-Christian Amann received many prizes and accolades for his scientific work. Specific examples include the Karl-Heinz-Beckurts prize in 2007, from the Foundation bearing the same name and a nomination to be Fellow of the IEEE Society in 2009. Beyond his research, he made major contributions to scientific administration being referee for many leading international scientific journals, as a committee member for the Germany Science Foundation, as vice Dean and Dean of the faculty for Electronic and Computer Engineering and as Managing Director of the Walter Schottky Institut.